Joking “Be careful what you wish for,” Gordy remembered the time that he let Michael Jackson and his brothers come to live with him after they got kicked out of the California home he had brought them from Indiana to live in.

According to the Associated Press, Marlon Jackson thanked Gordy for “letting us come to your house and tear it up,” as well as for putting them on the path to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career in a tribute to Gordy at the Ebony Power 100 gala.

Gordy, who danced along with everyone else as the group sang tunes like, “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground” and “I Want You Back” reminisced, “Michael and his brothers were just incredible to be around…I’m happy they’re here.”

The event, which honored powerful African Americans including President Barack Obama, Gordy, Forest Whitaker, commentator Van Jones, educator Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Serena Williams, was attended by the likes of Magic Johnson, Victor Cruz, Lala Vasquez and Condola Rashad. Nick Cannon was the host of the ceremony, which also featured a performance from the actors from “Motown: The Musical.”

Gordy commended Ebony magazine, which provided his Motown record label with its very first cover, for giving blacks confidence by chronicling their accomplishments over so many decades.

“It was the Supremes. They had no idea how much it meant to us,” said Gordy, who took a copy of the cover out of his pocket to show the audience.